Ninth Circuit Considers Reviving First Amendment Claims Against Oregon State Bar

Litigation attorney Kristin Asai was cited in a Courthouse News Service article covering a case before federal appellate court concerning the Oregon State Bar's compulsory membership for lawyers practicing in the state. Previously, a federal judge twice dismissed claims that the organization's membership requirement, along with statements in its newsletter condemning racism and violence, violated the First Amendment rights of attorneys. Now, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is hearing the case, in which Ms. Asai is defending the bar and some of its board members. She told the court the lawyers suing the organization have failed to present evidence of injury.

"I think you can look at that statement on its own and say, as a matter of law, there's no attribution," she said. "Plaintiffs had the opportunity to present any evidence of associational injury, and there was nothing."

The case was also covered in OregonLive.

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